Hair roller

ABSTRACT

A hair roller which is circumferentially expandable in order to stretch a lock of wound hair, with the expansion of the roller being accomplished without the aid of additional tools.

United States Patent Inventor William Garrett [56] References ,Cited 1 Elmhurst, NY. UNITED STATES PATENTS P 847,830 3,526,235 9/1970 Garrett 132/31 Flled Aug-6,1969 2,592,764 4/1952 Teopilian. 132/40 i f 301 33 3,495,601 2/1970 Garrett 132/39 x sslgnee airesce New York FOREIGN PATENTS 1,000,538 10/195] France 132/40 Primary Examiner Louis G. Mancene F Assistant Examiner-J. N. Eskovitz wing Attorney-Kane, Dalsimer, Kane. Sullivan and Kurucz U.S. Cl 132/39 Int. Cl A4511 2/24 Field of Search 1 32/39, 40, ABSTRACT= A roller which cllcumferemlally p 3 3 3 ble in order to stretch a lock of wound hair, with the expansion of the roller being accomplished without the aid of additional tools. 1

F 2 4 Z 4 W a I [J aq'r-+ j 5 w-gf q Q-- PATENTED 30 3, 623 .491

INVENTOR w/aa/ m GAP/QGTf ATTORNE 5 HAIR ROLLER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the treatment of hair particularly for the imparting of a wave or curl to naturally straight hair, hair rods are frequently employed. The strands of hair are treated with a chemical and are then wound upon the rods. The chemical is neutralized, the hair is rinsed to remove the neutralizer and the strands of hair are then unwound from the rods and are wound upon hair rollers. The hair is then dried and the rollers removed from the strands of hair to complete the treatment. Those who work in this art are aware that the solutions used to date are extremely strong and may be dangerous, at least to certain individuals.

Particularly in recent years hair-straightening techniques have come into vogue for removing the curl from hair. Such treatments have involved the use of continuous combing procedures which employ dangerous chemicals or the use of electricity which was equally time consuming and equally dangerous.

A variety of hair-curling rods have previously been developed for use in imparting curl to hair. Generally, these rods have been axially expandable; that is, some type of mechanism was provided at the center of the rod and actuation of this mechanism caused the hair-curling rod to expand. As most of these hair-curling rods are expanded through the use of some threaded member which passes through the center of the rod, some tool must be provided for attachment to the rod when it is to be expanded or contracted. Further, in order to obtain the same expansion on each use, it is necessary that the threaded member be turned an equal amount on each use. Thus, these types of rollers suffer from certain inherent deficiencies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have found a new type of hair roller which, depending on the diameter of the roller, can be employed either to impart a curl or wave to straight hair, or remove undesired curl from naturally curly hair. Employing this new, circumferentially expandable roller a uniform expansion is obtained with each use and, as a result, the waves which result are more defined and long lasting, and the solution which is employed in conjunction with the roller can be much milder than those presently employed.

The new, expandable hair roller takes advantage of the inherent elasticity of the hair which, I have found, allows for the better defined waves and milder treatment solution.

When the hair is wound about the roller of my invention, and the roller is expanded, the hair is uniformly stressed. This distorts the molecular structure of the hair shaft, allowing the treating solution to be more effectively employed. The improved effectiveness allows for the reduction in strength of the solution. Further, the unifonn stretching decreases the chances of regression during treatment and provides more defined and longer lasting curls or waves.

The type of curl or wave desired is dependent, in part, on the diameter of the roller used. If a relatively tight curl is desired, then the diameter of the rod or roller used should be less than three-eighths of an inch. On the other hand, if it is desired to impart a wave of greater diameter, or to remove the curl from curly or kinky hair, then the diameter of the roller should be at least three-eighths inch in diameter, and, preferably, at least one-half inch in diameter.

The circumferentially expandable hair roller of the present invention is in the form of a tube. No operating mechanism is contained within the tube but rather the wall of the hair roller tube is equipped with an integral mechanism which provides for the circumferential expansion of the roller, when expansion is desired.

A slit is formed in the wall of the roller, preferably parallel to the axis of the cylinder defined by the tube. The portions of the wall of the roller adjacent the slit are reinforced, with the reinforcement adjacent one side of the slit acting as a bearing surface for cams which are mounted on the reinforced portion at the opposite side of the slit. When the hair is wound onto the roller, the cam surface adjacent the minor radius of the cam is adjacent the bearing surface, or follower, so that the roller is in a relaxed position. After the hair is wound on the roller, the cam is rotated approximately through means of an integral handle, so as to place the surface of the cam adjacent the major radius of the cam in contact with the bearing surface or follower, and thus cause a widening of the slit. In this manner, the roller is expanded and the expansion is a constant one, as the amount of expansion is dependent wholly upon the differences in the radii of the cam and not upon the extent to which a mechanism is operated.

The roller is preferably fonned of a sheet of material having a degree of resiliency, so that it maintains its shape, but can be stressed so as to provide for'expansion. Thus, the roller can be fonned of metal, or more preferably, of various synthetic polymers, such as cellulose acetate.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a hair roller which is expandable to a constant extent on each use, without the necessity for the use of expansion means other than as provided on the roller, itself.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the hair roller of the present invention, with the expansion means in a relaxed condition;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2 of FIG. I; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, similar to FIG. 2, showing the expanding means in an operative position so as to expand the hair roller.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings, and particularly FIG. 1, a hair roller 1 is shown comprising a tube 2 which is provided with slit 3 in a direction generally parallel to the axis of the cylinder defined by the tube. The tube is also provided with a series of holes 4 which, in use, allow for passage of the treating materials used upon the hair and, more importantly, for the passage of air during drying.

The portions of the wall of the roller which are adjacent the slit are reinforced as at 5 and 6. The reinforced portion 6 is provided with a pivot means 7 which can be integrally formed of the same material as the main roller, or may be attached to the roller, as desired. Mounted on this pivot means 7 is an expanding means 8 comprising a cam 9 and a handle 10. As illustrated in the drawings, two such expansion means can be provided, one at either end of the slit.

The expansion means 8 is so mounted that the surface 11 abuts against a planar face 12 of the reinforced portion 5. When the surface of the cam 9, defined by the minor radius a is adjacent the planar surface 12, the roller is contracted. Abutment of the surface defined by the minor radius a on the planar face 12 prevents the roller from contracting beyond a desired point.

After the hair has been wound upon the roller, the roller may be expanded by rotation of the expansion means 8 as by rotating the handle 10 toward the roller, as illustrated by the arrows in FIG. 1. This causes the surface of the cam 9 which is presented to the planar surface to constantly change in such a manner that the distance of the surface ll from the pivot point is increased, thus resulting in a widening of the slit. As shown in FIG. 3, because of the bearing of the surface 11 of the cam 9, defined by the major radius b,against the planar surface 12, the roller is in its fully expanded condition. In this manner, the roller is expanded and the hair which is wound upon it is appropriately and uniformly stretched.

After the treatment of the hair has been completed, the hair and roller are returned to their respective relaxed positions by withdrawing the handles from their positions adjacent the roller to the positions which are, essentially, parallel to the axis of the cylinder defined by the roller tube. Again, the surface of the cam which is defined by the minor radius a is placed adjacent the planar bearing surface 12 and the resiliency of the roller causes it to return to its relaxed position.

As can be seen, since the movement of the expansion means 8 is determined by operating it is a simple one, the expansion of the roller is uniform upon each use.

Thus, an easily employable expandable hair curler has been described.

lclaim:

1. An expandable hair roller formed as an integral tube having a single, longitudinal opening in the wall of the tube, extending the entire length of said wall, expansion means permanently mounted on said wall immediately adjacent the opening such that, on operation of the expansion means, the opening is widened so as to expand the roller.

2. The expandable hair roller of claim I wherein the opening is essentially parallel to the axis of the cylinder defined by two fixed limits, and because the manner of the tube.

3. The expandable hair roller of claim 1 wherein the expansion means is a cam formed at one side of the opening which bears against a reinforced wall portion at the opposite side of the opening.

4. The expandable hair roller of claim 3 wherein said cam is formed with an integral handle for operation, said handle being positioned to lie adjacent the roller when the roller is in its expanded position.

5. The expandable hair roller of claim 4 wherein the opening is essentially parallel to the axis of the cylinder defined by the tube.

6. The hair roller of claim 3 wherein two expansion means are provided on said curler.

7. The hair roller of claim 1 having a diameter of at least three-eighths inch. 

1. An expandable hair roller formed as an integral tube having a single, longitudinal opening in the wall of the tube, extending the entire length of said wall, expansion means permanently mounted on said wall immediately adjacent the opening such that, on operation of the expansion means, the opening is widened so as to expand the roller.
 2. The expandable hair roller of claim 1 wherein the opening is essentially parallel to the axis of the cylinder defined by the tube.
 3. The expandable hair roller of claim 1 wherein the expansion means is a cam formed at one side of the opening which bears against a reinforced wall portion at the opposite side of the opening.
 4. The expandable hair roller of claim 3 wherein said cam is formed with an integral handle for operation, said handle being positioned to lie adjacent the roller when the roller is in its expanded position.
 5. The expandable hair roller of claim 4 wherein the opening is essentially parallel to the axis of the cylinder defined by the tube.
 6. The hair roller of claim 3 wherein two expansion means are provided on said curler.
 7. The hair roller of claim 1 having a diameter of at least three-eighths inch. 